Plug-in fuses are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,767 and 3,962,782. Such a fuse comprises a plug-in fuse element which includes: a blade-like body of fuse metal having a pair of laterally spaced terminal blade portions to be received by pressure clip terminals in a mounting panel or fuse block; current-carrying extensions at the inner end portions of each terminal blade portion; and a fuse link portion, generally of reduced thickness and small cross-sectional area, for interconnecting the current-carrying extensions. These fuses are alternatively referred to as "ATC" fuses (ATC is a registered trademark of Cooper Industries, Inc.) and have found wide-spread use in electrical systems found in automobiles, motorboats and other products.
Plug-in fuses are used in conjunction with pressure clip terminals which are carried in a fuse mounting panel or by a fuse block. Generally speaking such a panel or block comprises an insulated base to which are attached pairs of terminals, each pair of terminals comprising a fuse holder. Usually one side of each fuse holder is connected to a source of power and the other side is connected to the electrical device which is protected by the fuse. The terminals are, for the most part, individually mechanically attached to the insulated base by rivets, screws, threaded fasteners and the like. Sometimes, snap-in connections, pressure gripping tabs, or heat staking is used to hold the fuse terminal on the base.
It can be appreciated from the foregoing description that the manufacture, construction, and assembly of a fuse block, especially an ATC fuse block, is difficult and labor intensive. Since the parts are small, a premium is placed on the manual dexterity of the assembler. Thus, the manufacture of ATC fuse blocks involves the use of semi-skilled workers. The use of multiple, small, dimension sensitive parts also adds to the cost of manufacturing a fuse block.
With the wide-spread acceptance of ATC fuses in mass produced products, such as automobiles and pleasure craft, there is a need for a cost-saving method of assembling a fuse block for plug-in fuses, a fuse block which is easy to assemble, one which is easily adoptable to automated assembly, and one which has fewer assembly steps.